WALTHAM, Mass. – Washington University senior forward Troy
Ruths scored the game's final seven points as part of his 25-point,
12-rebound performance today as the visiting fourth-ranked Bears
overcame a late deficit to defeat the second-ranked Brandeis
University Judges, 71-69, in Red Auerbach Arena today in a
University Athletic Association (UAA) contest.

The game started as a very tight contest in the first half, as the
teams traded the lead 14 times with three ties over the first 15
minutes. With the score tied at 25-25, WashU (14-2, 5-0 UAA)
tallied eight unanswered points on a Ruths lay-up and back-to-back
3-pointers by senior guard Danny O'Boyle to take a 33-25 lead.
Brandeis (12-4, 2-3 UAA) answered with trifectas from junior Kevin
Olson to get back within 33-31 with 53 seconds left, but four Tyler
Nading points offset two Brandeis free throws to give the visitors
a 37-33 lead at the break.

Brandeis trailed by six points, 39-33, after Nading hit the first
bucket of the second half. The Judges answered with a 16-3 run over
the next seven minutes, reclaiming the lead on a lay-in by junior
Terrell Hollins. The run was capped by a fast-break 3-pointer by
senior Joe Coppens that put Brandeis ahead, 49-42. Ruths answered
with a traditional three-point play to kick off an 8-2 Bear run,
hitting a lay-up with 9:56 left to get the visitors back within
one, 51-50.

After the lead expanded back to four, the next four minutes were
played at the free-throw line. Two Hollins freebies tied the game
at 57-57 with 5:37 left, but O'Boyle gave WashU the lead with a
trifecta at the 5:16 mark. Olson answered with two free throws and
a lay-up at the four minute mark to give Brandeis a 61-60 lead.
Although that was the last field goal the Judges would hit, they
connected on both shots in their next five trips to the line, while
the Bears went just two-of-four from the stripe in that span. When
senior Kwame Graves-Fulgham hit two with 1:39 on the clock, it gave
Brandeis a 69-62 lead, but WashU held the Judges scoreless after
that.

Nading got the stripe after Grave-Fulgham's foul shots as he was
held trying to break free for a baseball pass on the inbounds play.
He hit one-of-two from the line, but the ball went out on the
Judges after the miss and Ruths scored on the inbound play. After a
Brandeis turnover, WashU missed a shot from downtown, but Ruths got
the offensive board and drew a foul, cutting the lead to 69-68 with
1:12 left.

Brandeis ran the shot clock down on the next possession, but Andre
Roberson came up just short. With 20 seconds remaining, Ruths again
scored and got to the line, giving the Bears the lead. Coppens had
a shot at a 3-pointer with the clock running down, but Nading
corralled the rebound as the clock expired.

Brandeis, which lost its third straight game and second in a row at
home, was paced by 18 points from Graves-Fulgham, 11 coming in the
first half. He hit 6-of-9 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers,
and 4-of-4 from the line. Graves-Fulgham also led the Judges with
four assists. Olson collected 12 points, six in each half, while
Coppens finished with 11 and Hollins had 10. Rookie Christian Yemga
led the Judges with a career-high six rebounds and two blocks.